Tuesday, September 10, 2013

NUHW Kicks Kaiser Permanente out of AFL-CIO Convention

On Sunday, an interesting development unfolded at the Los
Angeles Convention Center that marks an important moment in the history of
Kaiser Permanente and its relationship with the U.S. labor movement.

As a result of NUHW, the AFL-CIO booted
Kaiser and its purple purveyors of “partnership” out of the federation’s
national convention because of Kaiser’s anti-labor track record. It’s a significant
action given Kaiser's long-standing
effort to market itself as a labor-friendly company.

And there’s absolutely no bigger forum for a showdown
between Kaiser vs. Workers. After all, the AFL-CIO convention, where 1,600 delegates
have gathered for five days, is the largest gathering of unions in the U.S.

The AFL-CIO managed to
avert a planned union-led protest by calling off scheduled national convention
events that featured Kaiser Permanente this weekend, The Hill reports.

The National Union of
Healthcare Workers (NUHW) had planned to picket the Sunday and Monday events
highlighting the California hospital chain and health maintenance organization
but found nothing to protest when AFL-CIO officials at the 11th hour removed the
Kaiser sessions from the convention schedule.

In a letter sent to
Trumka on Oct. 6, five Kaiser technical and professional employees who belong
to the CNA-affiliated National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) questioned
why the AFL was showcasing Kaiser as a “model employer.” They noted that
“multiple affiliates of the AFL-CIO are currently in the middle of an epic
struggle at Kaiser to defend standards that workers have fought decades to
establish.” They asked Trumka “and the rest of the AFL-CIO to stand with us and
not with this multi-billion dollar HMO.”NUHW supporters at Kaiser in L.A. also prepared a leaflet detailing
their employer’s recent mistreatment of workers and patients in California.
They planned to distribute the flyer to the 1,600 delegates and guests
attending the convention’s opening session that began at 3 p.m. yesterday.

Below, Tasty has posted NUHW’s letter and excerpts from the convention’s
agenda detailing Kaiser's planned spots on the agenda, where the mega-HMO planned to push its wellness
program and “Instant Recesses.”

Because of NUHW’s efforts, at the 11th hour on Sunday the AFL-CIO kicked Kaiser out. And Kaiser’s spot on the agenda was
given to U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW)!

Tasty’s sources say Kaiser officials were inside the
convention center on Sunday when their departure was ordered.

In one article, an observer describes the action as “quite a
blow to the HMO given its partnership with the AFL and Service Employees
International Union,” which left the AFL-CIO in 2005.

Of course, it now remains to be seen whether the AFL-CIO
will turn this action against Kaiser into a something more substantial. But for
the time being, it represents another success for the feisty fighters at
NUHW and an indication of the growing anti-Kaiser sentiment among unions.

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